Obama makes last campaign stop in pivotal Ohio

Charles Babington

Sunday

Oct 31, 2010 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2010 at 12:07 AM

President Barack Obama made Ohio his final campaign stop Sunday in the tumultuous midterm elections, trying to help hard-pressed Democrats in a state that could prove crucial to his fortunes in two years.

President Barack Obama made Ohio his final campaign stop Sunday in the tumultuous midterm elections, trying to help hard-pressed Democrats in a state that could prove crucial to his fortunes in two years.

Republicans said it was too little, too late, confident their party will pick up more than 40 House seats and give them a majority. Republican control of the Senate seems less likely, though they expect to gain governors’ seats.

Obama said he felt good about Democrats’ chances if their supporters turned out in large numbers Tuesday. Yet to Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, voters on Election Day will send a sobering message: “You blew it, President Obama. We gave you the two years to fulfill your promise of making sure that our economy starts roaring back to life again.”

As he did in three other states this weekend, the president implored voters to recall how poorly the Republicans handled the economy when they were in control, and to give Democrats more time.

“It’s up to you to remember that this election is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of this mess,” he told about 8,000 people at Cleveland State University.

Obama said Republicans would return to policies that cut taxes for billionaires, cut regulations for special interests and “cut loose” middle-class families to fend for themselves.

But Republicans see Tuesday’s vote shaping up as a stern public rejection of two more years of Democratic control on Capitol Hill. Obama was appealing not to undecided voters but to Democratic voters who might stay home.

“Obviously the other side is enthusiastic,” Obama said as he ordered pancakes, eggs and turkey sausage to go at the Valois Cafeteria in Chicago before departing for the rally in Cleveland. He told reporters in the noisy cafe full of surprised diners, “We’ve got to make sure our side is, too.”

Obama carried Ohio easily in 2008, and Democrats once had high hopes of re-electing Gov. Ted Strickland this year and taking the Senate seat being vacated by Republican George Voinovich. But with the recession barely losing its grip in the state and the president’s approval ratings sagging, Democrats have all but given up on the Senate race and are desperate to save Strickland and several imperiled House members.

Cleveland was the last of Obama’s four weekend stops, after visiting Philadelphia, Connecticut and Chicago on Saturday. All are generally friendly locations for Democrats, and the White House strategy is to fire up core voters who may feel despondent in this GOP-trending year.

“What the American people are looking at and they’re saying is, ‘The Obama policies aren’t working. We need new policies, we need an economic-growth agenda,’” said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association. “If Republicans win, that’s what it will be, a repudiation of Obama’s policies.”

Democratic leaders tried to play down the potential losses. They pointed to tightening races and tried to focus on campaign promises by many Republicans that they say will repeal Obama’s health care law and roll back other initiatives.

“This is a choice, a clear choice, not a referendum,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine, who was on hand in Cleveland. “They have a political and partisan agenda, which they’ve had from Day One. We’re the problem-solvers trying to get this nation going after a lost decade that they created.”

A Strickland loss to Republican John Kasich would have many ramifications beyond the state. Ohio will lose two House seats because of the 2010 census, and its governor will help oversee a redistricting process that may be fiercely partisan. Governors also can direct substantial political resources to the presidential contender of their choice.

Should Obama lose Ohio in 2012, it would make it all the more important for him to win other highly contested states such as Pennsylvania and Florida.

Strickland underlined the symbolic importance of Ohio, telling the Cleveland audience that the state is “a microcosm of America.”

Illinois is the largest recipient of last-minute money for get-out-the-vote efforts from the Democratic National Committee, and Ohio is fourth. Of the nearly $2.7 million being transferred to state parties, $950,000 went to Illinois, $470,000 to Florida, $325,000 to Pennsylvania and $300,000 to Ohio.

The DNC aired a new ad featuring Obama that warns of record cuts in education and rollbacks in financial accountability if Republicans take control of Congress.

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele dismissed concerns of government gridlock if GOP lawmakers refuse to compromise with Democrats on issues such as deficit spending and taxation.

“With the Republican majority in the House or Senate or, hopefully, both, we’re not going to compromise on those things,” Steele said.

In many races, large numbers of voters have made their choices. In Ohio, where Democrats could lose up to six House seats, more than 721,000 votes have been cast. California officials already had in hand almost 2.5 million ballots, and Florida officials had almost 1.7 million.

More than 13.5 million votes had been cast early, either at ballot boxes that opened early or by mail. Four years ago, during the last nonpresidential election, some 19 million people voted before Election Day.

Kaine and Barbour appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Palin was on “Fox News Sunday,” while Steele was on CNN’s “State of the Union."

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